Test & Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers

These photographs are of Test Pilots,Engineers,and various research and production aircraft flown on test flights mostly from the late 1940's through to the present day.
Most of these have been kindly signed by those depicted

Friday, August 29, 2008

Jean Cliquet 1911-1997

Jean Cliquet was born in 1911 and had a rich career in aviation ever since. He joined the French Navy in 1928. In July 1930 he flew various aircraft types, Hanriot, Caudron, Nieuport, Dewoitine, Farman and seaplanes of Farman, Cams, Latham, Gourdoux. From 1935 to 1937 he was supervisor to the RoyanFlightsSchool before joining Morane-Saulnier in 1937, where he remained for the next 25 years as Chief Test Pilot, with only an interruption of two years during the war, as a pilot for Air France.

He made the first flight of the first French prototype after the war, the Mr.s.470, the first of 26 prototypes that he flew between 1945 and 1960!Among these the twin-enginedMS.702 with which he flew 28,000 km in Africa in 1950.He also flew the "Fleuret", the competitor of the twin-engined "Magister" which was the origin of the MS.760 "Paris", the first twin-engined private jet in 1954. Cliquet has flown more than 10,000 hours.

Jean Dabos 1923-2012

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Jean Dabos fled France aged 17 years in 1940 to England via Morocco, West Indies, Brazil, and Canada! He joined the French Alsace Squadron in Flight Strasburg. He finished the war after 220 hours of war flying and 140 missions. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre, the military medal four citations and the “Legion d’honneur”. After the war he went to the FlightTestCenter at Bretigny before joining SNCASO in 1952 as a helicopter test pilot. On 29th December 1953, he set the first French held World Altitude record for a helicopter in the SO.1220 Djinn a single-seater which flew to 4789m. In 1957, he pushed the record higher to 8458m.

He then went to test fly the Vautour and the Espadon at Melun-Villaroche. In 1956, he joined the Test Flight Center of Aerospatiale in Toulouse and followed the certification programmes of Caravelle, Airbus and Concorde. Afterward, he was detailed as “Flight crew training manager” at Aeroformation to train crews of foreign companies. He retired in 1974 with 11500 hours in his log-book.

Charles Goujon 1912-1957

Charles Goujon became a military pilot in 1933, and during the war he flew 193 missions and scoring 4 victories in the "Lafayette" Squadron alongside Colonel Rozanoff,before transferring to the "Roussillon" Squadron. After the war he became an engineer at ETACA, and became a test pilot in 1948. He was with Morane-Saulnier for three years before moving to S.N.C.A.S.O in August 1948. Among the aircraft he was involved with were the SO.95 "Corsican", and the "Brittany", with which he made a memorable flight from Orly-Bordeaux-Paris, on one engine.

He made the maiden flights of the SO.30 "Nene" and SO.30 "Atar", in 1951 and 1953 and then he was involved with the "Swordfish" and "Vautour", before replacing Jaques Guignard on the Trident who was injured in a crash in 1953. He was killed when the SO9050 Trident II he was flying exploded in mid air in 1957.

Pierre Nadot 1907-1991

Pierre Nadot (right) with Tito MaulandiPierre Satre and Pierre Nadot (right) in front of an Air France CaravelleMaiden Flight of SE-210 Caravelle

Pierre Nadot flew his last test flight onboard the Caravelle B IIs for its maiden flight,retiring as a test pilot after a 32 year career. He was succeeded by André Turcat.

His retirement came after starting his career in Naval Aviation in 1929, qualifying as a seaplane pilot in 1930. He began his career as a test pilot in the navy in February 1932; before oing on to work at Nieuport then SNCAO.In 1941 he joined SNCASE,flying light aircraft before moving on to the larger multi-engined aircraft such as the Armagnac, the biggest 4 engined aircraft of its era. He then flew the Grognard jet aircraft before concentrating on the Caravelle,making its first flight on May 27th 1955. It was the first commerical aircraft with tail mounted engines.

Leon Bourrieau 1908-1974

Nothing would have suggested that Léon Bourrieau would find his place in French Aviation history. He came from modest origins, his education was not outstanding and he suffered from health problems with his lungs. To then follow a career as a pilot, let alone a test pilot is quite astonishing.

Léon Bourrieau first joined the military before joining Fouga as a test pilot in1945. He tested the CM.10 and CM100/101 before he was the first to fly Fouga Sylphe on 14th July 1949. He perfected this aircraft as well as test flying the Fouga Gémeaux for the Turbomeca engine. On the 23rd July 1952, he made the maiden flight of the prototype Fouga CM170 Magister which was designed by Robert Castello and Mauboussin (C.M.), the first of 871 examples to fly!.

He has bailed out of aircrafttwice, was made a knight of the Legion of honor and decorated of the Médaille of the Aeronautics.

Yves Brunaud 1920-1962

Breguet 1100 Taon
Breguet Vultur

Started as an observer before becoming a pilot in the Air Force He then entered the C.E.V. before joining Breguet at the end of 1947. He flew more than 4,000 hours of flight of which 2,500 were flight tests in particular on the BR761 'Deux Ponts', BR1100, Vultur, Alizéand finally the Atlantic. He was killed in the crash of the 2nd prototype Atlantic in 1962.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Jean Boulet 1920-2011

Jean Boulet was born on the 16th November 1920 in Brunoy. He graduated from the French "Ecole polytechnique" and trained as a fighter pilot in the United States . After serving in the French Air Force, he joined the French national company SNCASE in 1946 as engineer-pilot responsible for helicopter programs, a sector the company was planning to develop. Jean Boulet had never piloted a helicopter before, and after training – once again in the United States – he was issued French Helicopter Pilot License No. 8. He then served as a helicopter test pilot and, in 1953, was appointed Head of Helicopter Flight Testing – a position he was to hold for the next 22 years.until his retirement in 1975. During his time with SNCASE (later Aerospatiale) he was involved in all of their helicopter designs, and performed the maiden flights of most.They include the followingSE3101, SE3000 Alouette, SE3130 Alouette II, SE3150 Lama, SA3210 Super Frelon, SA330 PumaOn 6 June 1955, he reached an altitude of 8209 meters at the controls of the Alouette 2. Almost three years later on 5 June 1958, he smashed this record by achieving 9853 meters. Just eight days later, in yet another record attempt, he broke through the 10,000 meter mark to reach 10,984 meters in 17 minutes and 43 seconds. But this was not the end of the story. On 17 March 1969, the Aerospatiale SA315 Lama made its maiden flight. The Lama was a winning combination of an Alouette II airframe and a Turbomeca Artouste IIIC engine, and was tailor-made for aerial work over mountainous terrain. On 21 June 1972, Jean Boulet spectacularly demonstrated the performance of the Lama by taking it up to an altitude of 12,440 meters

He gained 17 international records between 1952 and 1972,regaining the altitude record in 1972. He has flown over 9000hours of which 8000 are on helicopters.

Pierre 'Tito' Maulandi 1920-2008

The Baroudeur was a single seat turbojet fighter that didn't need long runways. The jet could take of from trolleys that could operate from grass fields, and could land on three retractable skids. These skids could also be used for take off from snow or ice covered conditions, and the trolley carried six rockets for rough ground support. The first Baroudeur flew on August 1, 1953. A second prototype flew on May 2, 1954. Two months later the second prototype reached Mach 1 in a shallow dive. However no production order was made.Pierre 'Tito' Maulandi flew the maiden flights of the SE 5000 Baroudeur in 1953 and the SE212 Durandal in 1956.

Jean Coureau 1928-1997

Jean Coureau was born on June 1, 1928, in Bouillac, in the French region of Tarn and Garonne. He began flying gliders out of Montauban airfield shortly after World War II, while still in high school. He joined Ecole de l'Air, the French Air Force's training school, in 1947, and qualified as a fighter pilot in Meknès in 1949. In 1950, he was among the very first French pilot to retrain for jet-powered aircraft, and was posted to the 4th fighter squadron the following year, where he promptly cemented his skills.

His talent soon caught the eye of CEV, a test flight center, where he was assigned in 1954. He qualified as a test pilot in 1956, and worked on the day's leading-edge military Mystère II, Mistral, Vautour, Fouga Marine and Mystère IV aircraft. He was also active in tests on lightweight interceptor Gerfaut I and II, Trident, Durandal and Mirage III 001 aircraft, the pool from which the Mirage III was chosen. As a pilot, he worked on the team defining this plane's specifications and conducting its first tests at CEV (Mirage III A 01 in 1958)He joined Générale Aéronautique Marcel Dassault in 1960, for the final fine-tuning and most delicate tests. Also known for his aerobatic prowess, he performed over 100 spirals on different Mirage III configurations, and performed the Mirage III C's, Mirage III E's and Mirage III R's maiden flights (the first in 1960, the second and third in 1961). Coureau also flew at aircraft presentations staged for foreign delegations. His demonstrations of the Mirage III's full range of features in Switzerland, for instance, earned that aircraft the favor of the Swiss Aviation Troop in 1961. He later performed maiden and test flights on the Mirage III T (in 1964), Mirage F 2 (in 1966) and Mirage G (in 1967).

Coureau was also at home with commercial aviation issues. He took the Mystère 20 for several test flights and, as a user, took part in the Hirondelle's development (1968). He and Hervé Leprince-Ringuet took the Mystère-Falcon 10-01 into the air for the first time in 1970, and Jérôme Résal sat alongside him as he did so with the Mystère-Falcon 30 in 1973. He joined Avions Marcel Dassault as chief pilot in 1967, and was known to run the several tests, in particular on the Mirage F-1, with talent and authority.His background as a military pilot did not hamper his ability to adjust. To the contrary, he willingly and successfully joined the ranks of civil pilots training for airline service (on Caravelle with Air Inter and Boeing 727 with Air France), to get a firsthand grasp of civil transport aircraft. He worked as first associate pilot alongside Jérôme Résal, Gérard Joyeuse and Denis Malbrand to develop the Mercure 01 (in 1971). The last aircraft program he was involved in was the Mirage 2000, which he took on a maiden flight in 1978.He was appointed deputy test-flight director in 1979 and promoted to flight safety director in 1987. He retired in 1992, after serving at Dassault for 32 years - and clocking 6 000 flying hours. Coureau's achievements in military duties earned him the title of Officer of the Legion of Honor. He also held the title of Officer of the National Order of Merit, and the Medal of Aeronautics

Guy Mitaux-Maurouard 1938-

Guy Mitaux-Maurouard started his aviation career as a pilot in the French Air Force in 1959. He is a graduate of the French Test Pilot School class of 1967 (EPNER) at Istres and has test flown virtually every Dassault fighter, starting with the swing wing Mirage G8 in 1968 and culminating with the Rafale C01 single-pilot air force fighter.

He flew the first flight of the Rafale A proof-of-concept fighter in July 1986.

In 1991, Mitaux-Maurouard was succeeded by Yves "Bill" Kerhervé as chief test pilot of military aircraft. Mitaux-Maurouard then joined the Falcon Jet test program. He was the chief test pilot on the Falcon 900EX and Falcon 2000 head-up display development and certification programs. He also flew Falcon Jets at air shows. Many pilots had their first flights in Falcon Jets with Mitaux-Maurouard.